Waterjet cutting
There are a
lot of talking what are the differences, advantages and disadvantages of
different cutting technologies. Unfortunately, even sales managers of
manufacturers companies do not have all the information and try to offer for
the potential customer the machine he doesn’t need.
Waterjet is
the technology to cut the materials with the water flow (for very soft
materials) or water with the sand (which is normally common for the most
applications). For waterjet possibilities there are no any differences with the
materials – it could cut mostly all from plastic and resin till the hard
metals.
Normally
the use of waterjet cutting machine for classic sheet metal fabrication is very
low. There are some applications and industries where you can’t work without
the waterjet, for example to cut granite for indoor use. What are the main
advantages? The first and important for some industries like aerospace that
waterjet cutting doesn’t affect any material heating and change of the
structure even for cutting edge. So this is the main difference between laser
and plasma cutting. Second is the big thickness of materials with the clean and
precise cutting edge. Imagine what does it mean to cut 50-100 mm thickness with
the plasma and how big will be the burrs after melted metal. Moreover because
of the technology there are no limits for metals, like, for example the
situation with CO2 laser cutting when the degree of reflection for non-ferrous
alloys is very high.
Not the
main but important – with waterjet you can cut several sheets to put as the
package. For sure as for the thickness of cutting you should consult with the
manufacturer but sometimes it is the possibility to make the speed boost for
the production. Moreover lots of waterjet cutting machines offer the swiveled
cutting which means the cutting of tilted head for desired degrees.
Disadvantages?
The main one is the speed because the waterjet cutting is incredibly slow. For
this reason waterjet can’t be the competitive solution for thin materials and
standard sheet metal fabrication workshop. If you do not have any special
applications there are no reasons to study waterjet technology because it is
for other things. Moreover you should consider about the maintenance because,
for example, waterjet is very sensitive for water quality so you should be
prepared for special installations to use it.
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